of Ministers, to try all persons accused of attempts upon the safety of the State. If procedure is begun by the ordinary courts, the decree convening the Senate may be issued any time before the granting of a discharge. A law shall determine the method of procedure for the accusation, trial and judgment. 13. No member of either Chamber shall be prosecuted or held responsible on account of any opinions expressed or votes cast by him in the performance of his duties. 14. No member of either Chamber shall, during the session, be prosecuted or arrested for any offence or misdemeanor, except on the authority of the Chamber of which he is a meniber, unless he be caught in the very act. The detention or prosecution of a member of either Chamber is suspended for the session, and for its [the Chamber's] entire term, if it demands it. D. Amendment upon the Seat of Government. June 21, 1879. Duvergier, Lois, LXXIX, 213-227. Article 9 of the constitutional law of February 25, 1875, is repealed. E. The Amendments of 1884. August 14, 1884. Duvergier, Lois, LXXXIV, 240-250. 1. Paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the constitutional law of February 25, 1875, on the Organization of the Public Powers, is amended as follows: "In that case the electoral colleges meet for new elections within two months, and the Chambers within the ten days following the close of the elections." 2. To Paragraph 3 of Article 8 of the same law of February 25, 1875, is added the following: "The Republican form of the Government cannot be made the subject of a proposed revision. "Members of families that have reigned in France are ineligible to the presidency of the Republic." 3. Articles 1 to 7 of the constitutional law of February 24, 1875, on the Organization of the Senate, shall no longer have a constitutional character. 4. Paragraph 3 of Article I of the constitutional law of July 16, 1875, on the Relation of the Public Powers, is repealed. 134. Documents upon the 16th of May Crisis. From these documents much may be learned about the real nature of the famous 16th of May crisis. The acceptance of the resignation virtually asked for in document A and offered in document B led to the adoption by the Chamber of Deputies of document C. It was presented by Gambetta as that agreed upon by all the groups of the republican majority and was passed 347 to 149. In consequence, MacMahon first adjourned the Chamber of Deputies for a month and then, with the consent of the Senate, dissolved it. The remaining documents, except the last, are intended to give an idea of the vigorous and acrimonious electoral campaign which followed. In the manifestoes of MacMahon special attention should be given to the list of the achievements of his government, his explanation of the issues involved, and what is announced or implied as to the future. Documents D and F are both the work of Gambetta. Their analysis of the situation from the republican standpoint and their list of administrative measures for influencing the elections should be carefully noted. The elections were an overwhelming victory for the republicans. Document H shows how MacMahon accepted the result. REFERENCES. Seignobos, Europe Since 1814, 205-207; Andrews, Modern Europe, 356-357; Coubertin, Evolution of France under the Third Republic, 61-74; Bodiey, France, I, 286-291; Lavisse and Rambaud, Histoire Generale, XII, 23-28. A. Letter of MacMahon to Simon. May 16, 1877. Journal Officiel, May 17, 1877 (Vol. 1877, 3689-3690). Mr. President of the Council, I have just read in the Journal Officiel the report of the sitting of yesterday. I have seen with surprise that neither you nor Mr. Keeper of the Seals urged from the tribune all the weighty reasons which possibly might have prevented the abrogation of a law upon the press, voted less than two years ago upon the proposal of M. Dufaure and the application of which you yourself very recently asked of the tribunals; and moreover, in several meetings of the Council, and even in that of yesterday it had been decided that the President of the Council, as well as the Keeper of the Seals, should be charged with combating it. Already there was occasion for astonishment that the Chamber of Deputies, in its late sittings, should have discussed an entire municipal law, and even adopted some provisions, of which in the council of ministers you yourself have thoroughly recognized the danger, such as the publicity of the municipal councils, without the Minister of the Interior having taken part in the discussion. This attitude of the head of the cabinet raises the question whether he has kept in the Chamber the influence necessary to make his views prevail. An explanation in this matter is indispensable, for if I am not responsible as you are to the Parliament, I have a responsibility to France, with which, to-day more than ever, I must be preoccupied. Accept, Mr. President of the Council, assurance of my highest consideration. THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, B. Letter of Simon to MacMahon, May 16, 1877. Translation, The Times (London), May 17, 1877. In view of the letter you have thought fit to write to me, I feel myself bound to hand you my resignation of the functions you were good enough to confide to me. I am obliged, however, at the same time to tender explanations on two points. You regret, M. le Maréchal, that I was not present on Saturday in the Chamber, when the first reading of the Bill on Municipal Councils was discussed. I regretted it also; I was detained at Paris by indisposition; but the question of the publicity of the sittings was only to have been discussed on the second reading. I had come to an agreement on this point with M. Bardouy. M. Perras's amendment, which passed, took the Assembly unawares, and I had an appointment with the Committee on Friday morning to try and make it reverse its decision before entering on the debate in the Chamber. All this is known to everybody. As to the Bill on the Press, M. le Maréchal, you will be good enough to remember that my objections related solely to the case of foreign Sovereigns. I had always explained myself in this sense, as you yourself must remember at yesterday morning's Council. I repeated my reservations before the Chamber. I abstained from elaborating them for reasons which everybody knew and approved. As to the rest of the Bill, I was in agreement with the Committee. You will understand, M. le Président, the motive which leads me to enter into these details. I have to define my position in a distinct manner at the moment of my quitting the Council. I scarcely ven ture to add-though as a citizen, and no longer as a Minister -that I earnestly desire to be succeeded by a man belonging, like myself, to the Conservative Republican Party. For five months it has been my function to give my advice, and the last time I have the honour of writing to you I allow myself to express a wish which is solely inspired by my patriotism. Pray accept, M. le Maréchal, the homage of my respect. C. Order of the Day. May 17, 1877. Journal Officiel, May 18, 1877 (Vol. 1877, 3744). The Chamber, Considering that it is important in the present crisis and in order to fulfill the commission which it has received from the country, to recall that the preponderance of the parliamentary power, exercised through ministerial responsibility, is the first condition of the government of the country by the country, the establishment of which the constitutional laws have had for their purpose; Declares that the confidence of the majority can be acquired only by a cabinet free in its action and resolved to govern according to republican principles, which alone can guarantee order and prosperity within and peace without, And passes to the order of the day. D. Manifesto of the Left. About May 20, 1877. Translation, The Times (London), May 21, 1877. Dear Fellow-Citizens,-A Decree which has just struck a blow at your representatives is the first act of the new Ministry de Combat, which aspires to hold in check the will of France. The Message of the President of the Republic leaves no doubt as to the intentions of his counsellors. The Chamber is adjourned for a month, till the Decree to dissolve it is obtained from the Senate. A Cabinet which had never lost the majority in any vote has been dismissed without discussion. The new Ministers knew that if they had allowed Parliament to speak, the day that witnessed their advent would have also witnessed their fall. As it is impossible for us to publicly express our reprobation from the tribune, our first thought is to turn towards you, and tell you, like the Republicans of the National Assembly of the 24th of May 1873, that the efforts of the men who have returned to power will be once more powerless. France wishes the Republic. She said so on the 20th of February, 1876. She will say so again every time she is consulted, and it is because universal suffrage has to renew this year the Departmental and Communal Councils that it is attempted to stop the expression of the national will, and that the first step taken is to shut your representatives' mouths; as after the 24th of May the nation will show, by its coolness, patience, and resolution, that an incorrigible minority cannot wrest from it its own government. However painful this unexpected trial may be which is disturbing the interests, and which might compromise the success of the grand efforts of our industry for the great and pacific Universal Exhibition of 1878, whatever be the national anxiety amid the complications of European politics, France I will let herself neither be deceived nor intimidated. She will resist every provocation. The Republican functionaries will remain at their posts and await the decree which separates them from constituencies whose confidence they have. Those of our countrymen who have been called into the Elective Councils of the nation will redouble their zeal and activity, their devotion and patriotism, to maintain the rights and liberties of the country. We shall enter into direct communication with you. We call upon you to pronounce between the policy of reaction and ventures, which overturns all that six years have so painfully gained-the wise and firm, pacific and progressive policy which you have already consecrated. The trial will not be long. In five months at most France will speak; the Republic will issue, stronger than ever, from the popular urns; the Parties of the past will be finally vanquished; and France will be able to face the future with calmness and confidence. E. MacMahon's Manifesto to the French People. September 19, 1877. Journal Officiel, September 20, 1877 (Vol. 1877, 6381). MARSHAL DE MACMAHON, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC, TO THE Frenchmen! FRENCH PEOPLE. You are about to be called upon to select your representatives in the Chamber of Deputies. I do not design to exert any pressure upon your choice, but I am bound to dissipate all ambiguity. |